DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME
DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME was released by Konami in Japan on December 25, 2002. With the re-appearance of past Dancemania songs, its huge songlist comprising of licenses, transplants, songs from past mixes as well as new songs, reusing of animations from past DDR mixes, and hints on the One More Extra Stage song and on arcade flyers made fans think that the series is coming to an end or will be home version only. Such thoughts were dissuaded when Konami ported Dancing Stage Fusion to the arcade in 2004 and with the global release of Dance Dance Revolution Supernova later running on modified PS2 hardware. Gameplay The general gameplay mechanics have remained unchanged from past mixes but some elements have been added: *The flashing ten footer rating. While it technically means that the song is harder than the typical ten footers, it also means that the song is one of the current mixes' boss songs. Most flashing ten-footers on one mix become demoted to simply ten-footers on the next arcade mix. Later mixes replaced the flashing ten-footers with red text (with accompanying CD Graphics for DDR X and X2 PS2) on the song wheel during Extra Stage or Encore Extra Stage. *The freedom to choose any song for Extra Stage. DDR 6th Mix and 7th Mix locked the songwheel on MAX 300 and MAXX Unlimited. Here, the player may choose any song as his/her Extra Stage, but The Legend of MAX must be played and passed with a grade of AA to access the One More Extra Stage. *The Beginner difficulty, a difficulty easier than Light was first introduced here. In this difficulty, the background videos are replaced by a character that shows when to step on the arrow. Note that there are no Double charts on this difficulty. Development Songlist Notable songs: The Legend of MAX Paranoia Survivor MAX Max. (period) Dance Dance Revolution Ports and Other versions The game was later on ported to the Japanese PS2. There were also releases in USA (albeit with a slightly different name) and the PAL regions (as Dancing Stage Fusion). The USA and PAL release use a different game engine. Note that these versions do not have the same songlists. Differences: Japanese PS2 *The dancing characters make a return with a cel-shaded appearance. *Instead of solely playing songs over and over, the new Mission Mode gives added stipulations to the typical gameplay. Completing the tasks unlock new songs or characters. *Three new songs, A Stupid Barber, Scorching Moon, Un Deux Trois plus another flashing 10 foter song, Max. (period) have been added. *Icons for the five dificulties have been added on the upper-right section of the banner section. The icons light up when the difficulty is available. American PS2 *The game exclusively relies on the foot ratings to give difficulties. *Has support for Sony's EyeToy accessory. *Minigames have been included that may or may not use the Eyetoy. *Includes some songs from other games like Karaoke Revolution and Silent Hill. *The interface is different, the song wheel is gone (the titles scroll by in a circular pattern), and nonstop mode is accessible from the song selection itself (as opposed to a seperate mode). *Trip Machine Survivor is the initial Extra Stage song. When Legend of Max is unlocked, that takes over as the Extra Stage Song. There is no One More Extra Stage. *This game engine is also used by Dance Dance Revolution Festival in Japan, except for the differing songlist, and that the entire interface is written in Japanese (a first for the series). European PS2 *Uses a recoloration of the Extreme US interface. *Lyrics are displayed (ala 3rd Mix) when available. *The interface can be displayed in a language other than English. *The features introduced in Extreme US are also available here. *Paranoia Survivor is the Extra Stage song, Xenon is promoted as One More Extra Stage song. *Ported to the arcades a year later (running on unmodified PS2 hardware). All of the licenses where replaced by Karaoke Revolution covers, and other new licenses. *A PS1 version was also released, but is inferior due to lack of freeze steps, fewer songs, no Extra Stage system and Unlock System (all songs are playable from the beginning). It uses the 4th Mix interface and the DDR Solo/Extra Mix announcer. Trivia *A glitch with Nonstop mode allows players to play unavailable stepcharts with certain songs. They are either unfinished (with some having only one arrow) or garbage steps meant for other songs (Dam Dariram's Oni stepchart is actually for Give it Up by Captain Jack, a "dummied out" song). *While its mix number has been omitted in all titles, it's still labeled as "Dance Dance Revolution 8th Mix" internally. *With the arcade version running on modified PlayStation hardware, some measures, like including lower bitrate versions of songs and changing the full motion videos that play with each song had to be done to ensure that the game fits on a standard 700 MB CD. Category:Arcade DDR Mixes Category:Freeze Arrow DDR games